Monday, June 25, 2007

Monday 06/25 A.M. Quickie:Griffey, Clemens, Beavers, Horford, More!

Ken Griffey is MLB's hero: 2 HR on Sunday to lead the Reds over the Mariners and vault himself ahead of Mark McGwire on the all-time HR list, in front of a "home" crowd that loves him perhaps more than any other athlete in city history.

A healthy-ish Griffey is enjoying a late-career surge of national popularity, most likely because he seems to be a rare model of clean power in a larger pool of PED-tainted sluggers of his era.

Clemens throws middle relief: It was his first relief appearance since July 1984. Think he wanted extra money for it?

The dramatic crescendo of the appearance was his battle with Barry Bonds. He walked Bonds on four pitches. Eh: Not so dramatic.

Morneau Watch: Still sidelined in the hospital after that collision. Purely my own speculation, but is this going to end his season?

Rod Beck, R.I.P.: Condolences to family, friends and fans of the longtime MLB closer, who sported the best moustache of our era.

CWS: OregonState repeats as champs. Not a bad spring for back-to-back championships in major men's college sports.

NBA Deals: Vince Carter staying with the Nets? Ugh, how depressing for Nets fans. Why is Bruce Ratner so enamored with such an unclutch player?

It's time for the Nets to rebuild: I'd start with re-dangling Jason Kidd to the Lakers for Andrew Bynum (let's see LA turn that down NOW, after all the Kobe stuff). Then I'd let Carter go, or deal him in a sign-and-trade (to the Bobcats for Gerald Wallace?). Then I'd see what I could get for Richard Jefferson. Then I'd bide my time until LeBron arrives. Sound like a good plan?

NBA Draft Watch: Today, the Hawks are working out Al Horford, who is the consensus "Best Player Available Not Named Oden or Durant."

I've been saying this for two seasons: Horford is going to be an amazing NBA player. For now, he's being eclipsed by Oden and Durant, but he is going to be a huge impact player.

(That's sort of why I hate to see him go to a woeful team like Atlanta. But he can really help that team.)

Track: Your next great American Olympic track star? Tyson Gay, who produced the second-best time ever in the 200.

Wimbledon starts today: So it's going to be Federer winning the men's side and – what – like a Williams sibling winning the women's? OK, gotcha. Ping me when the finals are on.

(At least Wimby is paying the women the same as the men... finally, and long overdue.)

NFL: If you would like to know why Laurence Maroney will be the bloggers' favorite NFL player next year – sort of an antidote to Pac-Man Jones – here's why.

Dan, I know that NASCAR is a niche sport, but there was something historic over the weekend. Juan Pablo Montoya became only the third foreign-born driver to win a race on the circuit. He joins Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney as the only men to win a NASCAR race, an F1 race, and an Indy Car race.

Gay can do more than just run the 200. He also was the US champ in the 100m. He ran the fastest time ever into a headwin and still was fast. I expect him with good competition to break the 100m world record. Then again, knowing track, one hamstring pull and it is all over.

Griffey is going to be the biggest "What if" player in history. What if he didn't have all those injury problems, would we be worried about Bonds breaking Aaron's record, or would we not care as much knowing that Griffey would pass him anyways.

Espy's are joke and become a popularity contest (just like anything voted on by fans) That said, here's my picks:

Gay can run the 100 also and after watching him over the past month, expect him to do some big things in Beijing.

What, no Michael Phelps in the "Best Male Athlete" category? Can't ESPN amuse us non-mainstream sports fans and at least include him here? We know he won't win (should though) but it could behoove the powers that be to put him as a finalist.

Don't forget.. US 2 Mexico 1. Big win for the US since it sends them to play world class competition in 2009, less than a year before the WC. Also, the game was fantastic (or so I hear, I was at my own engagement party...)

How do the Eastern finals qualify LeBron for best "championship" performance. That's some serious popsicle-sucking there....

like when Wheaties put Jordan on the box years before his first title....breakfast of champions? Did they mean SCORING champions?)

How can the Boise State 2-pt be up for best play, but not best finish? It was the last freakin' play! And, considering what it was on the heels of in that game, sheesh.

The Cardinals weren't up for best upset, but best team?! That's very laughable, too. They weren't the best team at all, but they did pull off THREE upsets!

And really, ALL of the "Best Moment" nominees should be awarded something, long before some of these nominees deserve even being nominated. The ESPYs truly are about as self-serving as you can get. (Note the absolute lack of hockey?)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he come out of the bullpen during the Houston/Atlanta NLDS series... that 18-inning marathon? That was blamed as the reason the Astros eventually lost - his throwing schedule was knocked out of whack, leaving him unavailable until later games in the postseason. Or at least, that's what Astros' fans told themselves. Couldn't be that Clemens' postseason record is spottier than a leopard.

Re: 500 vs. 3000

I'd argue that in the steroids age, 3000 hits is more impressive - anybody can shoot up and add 15-25 feet to their hits, thereby increasing their chances of knocking 500 of them out of the yard. Plus, 500 is 1/6 of 3000 - not to get all mathematical or anything...

Why is the list for 500 HRs going to grow exponentially in the next few seasons while the 3,000-hit club stays pretty exclusive?

I say it's because the PEDs epidemic easily has led to more home run hitters than it ever did quality batsmen who can actually hit a ball more frequently (i.e., 3,000-hit club).

You could argue for the 3,000-hit club based on the PEDs argument too. Figure this way... players could use PEDs to doctor their ability and crush more HRs, hence making the 500-HR Club. But you cannot really synthesize your ability to hit the ball frequently... sure it may lead to farther hit balls (obviously some more HRs, maybe some extra base hits). But to be 3,000-hit good? No amount of PEDs can foster that skill.

OK, maybe I just switched my opinion to 3,000-hit Club.

But, really, let's not argue the point that both are pretty damn good company to be in.

It was Clemens' first regular-season relief appearance since his rookie year, so that wouldn't count the playoffs. I'm not sure why anybody would say that caused the Astros to eventually lose; they won the NLCS and lost in the World Series, so Clemens' schedule wouldn't have been an issue by then.

As for Clemens' postseason record being "spottier than a leopard", he's 12-8 in the playoffs with a 3.66 ERA, mostly in the AL...

Yes, Clemens is 12-8 in the postseason. I'm not saying he's a terrible postseason pitcher - 12-8 with a 3.66 is respectable... for any average pitcher. But when discussing perhaps the best pitcher of the past 35 or so years, you'd expect a little more.

Not to mention that he's 12-8 over 33 career postseason starts. 13 No decisions just kind of underlines the number of times he's either come up short or been yanked early (the 2005 World Series against the Marlins comes to mind). Plus, that '05 3-inning relief appearance gave him one of those 12 wins, so really he's 11-8. And before the 2000 playoffs, he was pretty average (at best).

Again, not terrible. Certainly better than most. But not the type of numbers you're looking for from the best pitcher of his generation.

Sometimes I feel like the lesser known things don't get the votes that they should. The Barton/Winona St. DII Champ game ending was one of the most ridiculous things that ever happend on a basketball court in any sort of championship game. Here is the clip if you hadn't seen it.

Clemens' 3.66 ERA may not be spectacular, but it's certainly better than "respectable". And the other great pitchers of this era haven't done much better - it's just hard to do better, given the offensive explosion of the '90s and the fact that the league's best offenses tend to be in the playoffs.

The other best pitchers from this era haven't done a whole lot better...Maddux has a 3.34, all in the NL; Pedro's is 3.42, but over a much shorter period of time; Glavine's is 3.42, also all in the NL. Randy Johnson's is 3.50.

Only Smoltz and Schilling from this era have significantly better ERAs than Clemens in the postseason...the point is, Clemens hasn't been any worse in the postseason than you would expect him to be.

In talking about Clemens -- Mussina was right. Roger Clemens is a #3 or #4 starter right now. Torre acknowledged it when he said his hopes for Roger every week are to give his team a chance to win games. For $28M, I would want an ace. A guy who you can count on for a win every 5th day, not a guy who keeps us close and gives us a chance. Clemens has an ERA above 5 on a team that is below .500 and is 11.5 back. I think it's time he "retire" for good!

I would say that it is completely possible for Junior to catch Ruth. With the way he loves the game, I doubt he will stop playing any time soon. Rumors are already starting that Griffey might take less money to go back to Seattle when they lose Ichiro so that he can end his career there. Even if he stops being able to play the field, I doubt that swing is going anywhere. That guy could DH for life.

If there is one person who is designed to be a DH specifically to chase down a record, it's Jr. Bonds' switching to the AL and the DH would bring nothing but constant boos and razzing - I cannot imagine anyone outside of the Bay Area who is looking forward to Bonds breaking Aaron's record. If we're lucky, he hits 756 and no more, making it all the more plausible for a Jr., Pujols, or A-Rod to eclipse the mark within the next decade+.

But as for returning to the Mariners, I can honestly see people nation-wide supporting Jr.'s move to an AL team to give his body a break (sorry, poor choice of words) and chase down Ruth, Aaron and eventually Bonds. If fans in Seattle can "forgive and forget" and welcome him back to the Emerald City, fans across the country would openly be rooting for him to knock Bonds' name from the eventual top of the All-Time list.

Now... if he went to a different AL team (the Yankees spring to mind, what with their gaping DH hole now that Giambi's snitching), there might be less goodwill towards him - people would spring up with the old arguments; "He's just chasing personal glory", "He's not trying to make a team better", "He's all about the numbers and money".

Actually, scratch that. If he went to the Yankees, he'd stil be on a contender. If he went to Tampa Bay, he'd finally be closer to home. It would take a move to a team like Kansas City or the Rangers to get teh boobirds out in full effect.

I don't remember...were Seattle fans pissed that Jr. left? Since he went "home" to Cincy, I think they took it better than A-Rod to Texas to NY. I was too busy crying about all of the Indians leaving Cleveland for the money.

If Jr. ever went to the Yank-mes, I don't think I'd root for him. I just don't like good guys going there. I'm enjoying their dismal season right now ;)

Dan, just saw the NY list, and maybe I'm out of touch, but isn't Posada on there somewhere? Catchers usually have some balls and with his tenure on the Yanks, I thought he'd at least make the Honorable Mention list.

Come on Dan, you really should have given the USA men's team a little love. A great come-from-behind, 2-1 win over arch-rival Mexico... in front of a very pro-Mexico crowd (in Chicago).. for the Gold Cup trophy.

The winning goal by Feilhaber is something that will be remembered as for a very long time. It was spectacular... and by a very young, up-and-coming player. Look out for Benny.

Also, the Griffey HR's were great, and even better that is was a MARINERS win. Now I only wish Bavasi could bring Junior back to Seattle this year.

When Jr. left Seattle, he asked to be let go/traded because he didn't think the M's were committed to doing what it takes to win. At the time, a lot of people felt the same way. Therefore he left under great circumstances. He was cheered every time he came to the plate this weekend and every time he made a play in the field. Seattle still LOVES him. Even if he became a Yankee, I don't think M's fans would boo.

Amen, mark. I have watched pro wrestling for as long as I can remember (yes, I know it's scripted), but Chris Benoit was always one of my personal favorites: technically sound and always classy. Condolences to his extended family.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.